Runninghead: THE SEVENTIES AND NIXON’S LEGACY

The Seventies and Nixon’s Legacy
Carlos Michael Padilla
HIST145: The American Experience Since 1945
Marvin Frohock
March 5, 2008
The Seventies and Nixon’s Legacy “Streaking to the 1970s” was a phrase a group of former high school students made up as they reminisced about the butt dancing, cheek planters, also known as the BBITNs (pronounced BEE-bittens), which meant buffalo buffs in the nude who dashed brazenly, almost daringly across a playing field, the heart of a school campus, and even across a television screen during a major award ceremony. Such was the decade that preceded the conformity and complacency of the 1950s, and the sexual revolution and cultural renaissance that echoed during the 1960s. The decade of the 1970s ushered in the resignation of a president, the ending of a major Southeast Asian conflict, and the birth of two new forms of youth culture identity – streaking and disco. The 1970s began with the Beatles releasing Let It Be, which would be their last album, the Kent State shooting involving the death of the four students, the conviction of Charles Mansion for the murder of actress Sharon Tate, and the conviction of American soldiers for killing entire towns of Vietnamese villagers. This action marked the beginning of the end for America’s support of the American soldier. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War lasted between 1959 and 1975, ending with the fall of Saigon. This war or police action as some Americans referred to the `war would cost the American taxpayer billions of dollars and countless lives. Vietnam, like Korea, stemmed from America’s policy of containment, which was a product of the Cold War era. The fall of Saigon also sealed the fate for Vietnam’s neighbors. Cambodia’s government, which was supported by western